This Week On Twitter: Twitter Users Are Smarter Users, Social Marketing Rules & Social Media History

Need a little weekend reading? We’ve compiled our top ten Twitter stories of the week, which includes a study that reveals that Twitter users are likely to be smarter than those who prefer Facebook or LinkedIn, 21 rules for effective social media marketing, how employee use of social media is on the rise, a history of social media (1971-2012) and the four types of social media users.

When it comes to social networking, a new study has revealed that Twitter users could well be the smartest of them all. Psychometric testing company Onetest surveyed 2,851 graduates from around Australia, exploring the outcomes (life satisfaction, salary and career progression) of people who had entered the workforce between 2002 and 2011, before cross-referencing this data against their social network of choice. And the results? While only four percent listed Twitter as their preferred social tool, these respondents had the “highest cognitive abilities” of users across all the main social channels.

Social media comes with a pretty steep learning curve, which places an enormous amount of value in tried-and-tested guidelines, which can only come from persistence and experience. Like many of the good things in life, there are no shortcuts, and while some folks get uncomfortable with the use of the word rules on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, there are some things that you really have to do to get ahead. For example, it’s important that you position yourself to be an expert so that your audience learn to trust your advice. Whatever you do, you must avoid spamming. At all times, your audience will expect you to keep it real. Your content should strive to engage and enrich. If you want to convert visitors into customers, always follow up with connections.

Initially frowned upon – if not outright banned – the use of social media in the office is very much on the rise, as employers start to understand the benefits of these tools and how they can be best leveraged for office productivity. While less than half (43 percent) of firms have a completely open policy towards social networking, fewer than one in three (< 30 percent) block these channels altogether, and the number of organisations restricting access to these platforms is dropping by around 10 percent each year.

Social networking seems like a very new phenomenon and, certainly for the younger generation, it’s hard to imagine a world without Facebook and Twitter. But social isn’t (and never was) just these two platforms – in fact, it actually predates both of them by over thirty years. Yep. The history of social media is, essentially, the history of the internet, and you will find its roots in email, usenet, the world wide web, blogs and (gasp) AOL.

You might think you’re a unique snowflake, but you’re not: at least not when it comes to your social media habits. This infographic has identified four major types of social media consumers, defined by their interests, economic status, knowledge of tech and more.

Twitter isn’t always about business. And it isn’t always about who can come up with the most clever observation or witty retort. Sometimes it hits you right between the eyes with a bit of reality you just didn’t expect.

A survey of 7,700 teenagers in the U.S. has revealed that Facebook is still the social network of choice amongst the younger demographic, followed by Twitter and Instagram, says a new study from Piper Jaffray. While Facebook’s stock continues to stagnate following it’slacklustre IPO, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says that the company remains “well positioned to maintain its spot as the top social network despite competition from Twitter”.

Educators love Twitter: some 90 percent of teachers have used social media in the classroom or for educational purposes. But how exactly are these educators connecting to each other and their students?

Back in January Twitter unveiled a revision to their stance on censorship – namely, that while they agreed that the tweets must continue to flow, Twitter’s increasing position on the international stage meant that, inevitably, they would have to work with governments and enforcement agencies on a per-country basis in order to better serve their respective values and norms with regard to freedom of expression. To do this, Twitter implemented functionality which allowed them to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country. This week, they actioned this policy for the first time, blocking a neo-Nazi account at the request of the German authorities.

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